We explained that it is the movement to end the killing of animals in shelters. He said, “Well, what about people?”

People aren’t rounded up and killed simply for being lost or homeless. We explained that 8 million lost and homeless pets enter American shelters every year and 4 million are killed, even though a lot more than 4 million people are looking to adopt pets. Some animals are even killed when rescuers are on their way to save them. Some places, like certain counties in Georgia, have kill rates of 80%, 90% or even more. They don’t even try to find homes for animals. I told him about my experience at Tompkins County, how we ended the needless killing there, saving thousands of animals as a result.

He replied that it was “a beautiful story.” Not only that, he wanted to learn more and asked me to write down somewebsiteurls for him. He even expressed interest in attending next year’s conference.

Wow.

Sometimes, when you’ve spent too much time trying to convince killing apologists to grow a brain, a soul, and a heart, you can forget that we really do have the support of the public on our side.
The animals need us to make sure that everyone knows that this movement exists.Wear it with pride and never, ever pass up an opportunity to educate someone.

You’ll be doing the animals, the movement, and the person you educate a favor.

No Kill means hope for all.

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7 Responses to “A funny thing happened on the way home from the conference”

Thanks for commenting. I’d been feeling pretty depressed before the conference. I needed to have my optimism and energy restored, and the conference did that. This unexpected encounter afterwards was the icing on a very big cake–our movement is growing exponentially, the number of No Kill communities is growing exponentially, and with it the number of animals saved is growing, and hope for the future of pets and those who care about them.

Thank you Valerie! The conference did give grounded hope…seeing the numbers of communities that are growing toward and adopting either the whole No Kill Equation or portions of is step by step. It IS heartening…and we all need to see the growth to remind ourselves that we ARE making a difference!

It is amazing to see how fast the movement has grown in just the past couple of years. I used to be able to recite the names of all No Kill communities and the year in which they went No Kill. That was back when the number was in the single digits. I can’t do that any more! I look forward to counting No Kill states!

I attended the conference and it was very inspiring! I have to say, though, it was disheartening to come home and be greeted with negativity and skepticism from most of the rescue volunteers in my area. But … we will stay positive and carry on. Keep up the good work that you do! People are listening!

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